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Alchemy

Alchemy is the potion-brewing trade. With a mortar and pestle, one type of reagent, and an empty bottle you grind out potions anywhere — no forge, oven, or other station is needed. How crafting works in general (tools, success chance, material selection) is covered in the Crafting Overview.

What you can brew

Every potion consumes one empty bottle plus a quantity of a single reagent. Success chance starts at 0% at a recipe's minimum skill and climbs to 100% at its maximum — and a failed brew hands the empty bottle back, so you only lose the reagents.

Potion Skill range Reagent (amount)
Lesser Night Sight / Night Sight / Greater -25–25 / 0–50 / 50–100 Spider's Silk (2 / 4 / 10)
Refresh / Total Refresh 5–30 / 25–50 Black Pearl (3 / 8)
Lesser Explosion / Explosion / Greater 5–55 / 35–85 / 65–115 Sulfurous Ash (3 / 6 / 12)
Lesser Heal / Heal / Greater Heal 20–40 / 35–60 / 55–80 Ginseng (1 / 5 / 10)
Lesser Cure / Cure / Greater Cure 20–40 / 35–60 / 55–80 Garlic (1 / 5 / 10)
Lesser Poison / Poison / Greater 20–40 / 35–65 / 60–85 Nightshade (3 / 5 / 10)
Deadly Poison 80–105 Nightshade (14)
Lethal Poison (recipe) 100–125 Nightshade (20)
Agility / Greater Agility 40–65 / 60–85 Bloodmoss (3 / 8)
Strength / Greater Strength 40–65 / 60–85 Mandrake Root (3 / 8)
Inflammable Oil 45–95 Sulfurous Ash 5 + Spider's Silk 5
Greater Inflammable Oil (recipe) 75–120 Sulfurous Ash 8 + Spider's Silk 8
Special Hair / Beard / Backpack Dye (recipe) 100–120 Linseed Oil 4

Recipe-marked entries must first be learned from a recipe scroll found as loot. The special dyes are part of the pigment system — see Pigments and Dyes.

The complete list

Agility

Item Skill Resources
agility agility 40 – 65 3 × Blood Moss, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater agility greater agility 60 – 85 8 × Blood Moss, 1 × Empty Bottles

Cure

Item Skill Resources
lesser cure lesser cure 20 – 40 1 × Garlic, 1 × Empty Bottles
cure cure 35 – 60 5 × Garlic, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater cure greater cure 55 – 80 10 × Garlic, 1 × Empty Bottles

Explosion

Item Skill Resources
lesser explosion lesser explosion 5 – 55 3 × Sulfurous Ash, 1 × Empty Bottles
explosion explosion 35 – 85 6 × Sulfurous Ash, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater explosion greater explosion 65 – 115 12 × Sulfurous Ash, 1 × Empty Bottles

Heal

Item Skill Resources
lesser heal lesser heal 20 – 40 1 × Ginseng, 1 × Empty Bottles
heal heal 35 – 60 5 × Ginseng, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater heal greater heal 55 – 80 10 × Ginseng, 1 × Empty Bottles

Inflammable Oil

Item Skill Resources
Inflammable Oil potion Inflammable Oil potion 45 – 95 5 × Sulfurous Ash, 5 × Spiders' Silk, 1 × Empty Bottles
Greater Inflammable Oil potion Greater Inflammable Oil potion 75 – 120 8 × Sulfurous Ash, 8 × Spiders' Silk, 1 × Empty Bottles

Night Sight

Item Skill Resources
lesser nightsight lesser nightsight -25 – 25 2 × Spiders' Silk, 1 × Empty Bottles
night sight night sight 0 – 50 4 × Spiders' Silk, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater nightsight greater nightsight 50 – 100 10 × Spiders' Silk, 1 × Empty Bottles

Poison

Item Skill Resources
lesser poison lesser poison 20 – 40 3 × Nightshade, 1 × Empty Bottles
poison poison 35 – 65 5 × Nightshade, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater poison greater poison 60 – 85 10 × Nightshade, 1 × Empty Bottles
deadly poison deadly poison 80 – 105 14 × Nightshade, 1 × Empty Bottles
Lethal Poison Lethal Poison 100 – 125 20 × Nightshade, 1 × Empty Bottles

Refresh

Item Skill Resources
refresh refresh 5 – 30 3 × Black Pearl, 1 × Empty Bottles
total refreshment total refreshment 25 – 50 8 × Black Pearl, 1 × Empty Bottles

Special Dyes

Item Skill Resources
Special Hair Dye Special Hair Dye 100 – 120 4 × Linseed oil, 1 × Empty Bottles
Special Beard Dye Special Beard Dye 100 – 120 4 × Linseed oil, 1 × Empty Bottles
Special Backpack Dye Special Backpack Dye 100 – 120 4 × Linseed oil, 1 × Empty Bottles

Strength

Item Skill Resources
strength strength 40 – 65 3 × Mandrake Root, 1 × Empty Bottles
greater strength greater strength 60 – 85 8 × Mandrake Root, 1 × Empty Bottles

Potion mechanics worth knowing

  • Potions have no quality tier — no exceptional potions; they simply stack as consumables.
  • Potency scales with the drinker's Alchemy. A potion's strength is set when it is drunk, not when it is brewed: flat effects gain roughly +1 per 10 Alchemy, and buff durations gain 6 seconds per point. An alchemist gets far more out of every potion than anyone else.
  • Drinking with full hands. With 80+ Alchemy you can drink potions without a free hand.
  • Bottles recirculate. Drinking a potion returns the empty bottle, and a failed brew returns it too. The craft menu shows your current bottle count.
  • Potion kegs. If you carry a matching keg (holding 1–99 of that potion), a fresh brew is poured straight into it and the bottle comes back — perfect for mass production.
  • Poisoning tie-in. The poison potions are exactly what the Poisoning skill consumes to coat blades — the potion tier sets the poison level.

Skill Mastery

Alchemy has its own Alchemy Mastery (PvM only), taught by an Alchemist for 10,000 gold once the skill reaches 90. It turns explosion potions into a primary damage source: more potion damage, a chance not to consume the flask at all, and the Nuke ultimate.

Raising the skill

Alchemy can be pushed beyond 100 to 120 with Crafting skill scrolls. High skill unlocks Lethal Poison, Greater Inflammable Oil, and the special dyes, and keeps improving every potion you drink.

A practical training ladder (brew whichever is cheapest for you in each bracket):

Skill Brew
0–30 Refresh Potions (buy the first points from an Alchemist NPC to skip the worst part)
30–50 Total Refresh Potions
50–60 Heal or Cure Potions
60–80 Greater Agility or Greater Strength Potions
80–95 Greater Heal / Greater Cure Potions, or Deadly Poison if you sell to poisoners
95–120 Deadly Poison, Greater Explosion, or Greater Inflammable Oil (recipe)

Reagents are sold by mage vendors; everything you brew while training is worth using or selling, so Alchemy largely pays for itself.

Town Quests for alchemists

Your potions are worth citizen points

The town Alchemist posts crafting town quests for a set number of one item. They pay citizen points, town score and reward currency, and count toward Town Exports.

Switch it on first. Toggle Craft for Quest in the crafting menu. The label is greyed out until you have a quest for the highlighted item, and turns green once the toggle is on. While it is on, a qualifying craft spends your materials and counts toward the quest — you do not keep the item.

Potion quests never name a material or demand exceptional quality — any batch of the right potion counts.

Nothing is wasted if you miss the requirement: a craft that does not qualify is simply made the normal way and stays yours, it just earns no progress.